Unsure of their positions, constantly wandering away from the action and looking lost and forlorn, well that was the plight of the smokers in The Royal Oak but although CD Tenerife were not much better at times, there was more character in their 2-2 draw at Valladolid. Captain and right back Marc Bertran was suspended for the game so Pablo Sicilia filled his position with Nino wearing the arm band and both responded well.

There was a nightmare start as the home side took the lead after 8 minutes, Prieto sliced a clearance high and it broke to Oscar who gratefully stroked it into the net. Tenerife responded quickly, Nino saw his long range blast just miss but Julio Alvarez put in a great cross for Nino to despatch for a 10 th minute equaliser. Sadly after that lifeline Tenerife lost their way and let Valladolid take control, the CDT midfield seemed to be missing in action, maybe they also popped out for an illicit ciggie, Ricardo was back to his invisible worst and even Mikel couldn’t get the engine running.

Valladolid came back in style, former Pio, Nauzet took a free kick and curled in a stunning shot into the top corner with Sergio Aragoneses well beaten. At least defensive flop Prieto went off injured and Luna slotted in nicely alongside Melli but it looked like another big defeat might be a possiblity. Tenerife showed their best form at the start of the second half, Beranger was taken off at half time in favour of Iriome, maybe Mandia has finally realised what a poor excuse for a defender he is. There were some seriously scarey moments, Sergio stood firm in goal especially after a triple salvo at goal which they somehow repelled. Julio Alvarez was getting more involved and Nino as always ran every yard, his christmas wish list must have included a big strike partner.

The game looked to be fading away from Tenerife but with 5 minutes left Iriome popped up at the post to plant a perfect header into the home net. Maybe it wasn’t the best performance but a few good signs and a vital point ahead of 4 home games in January. Another 5 yellow cards could be storing up more problems for Tenerife, even more reason to bring in some new players – over to you Juanjo Lorenzo our new Sporting Director.